The Reign of Princess Twilight Sparkle

by ShaD-23

Appleoosa

Applejack and Rainbow Dash both left sheriff Silverstar's establishment and looked around the dusty town of Appleoosa. Not much had changed since their last visit, it seemed. They were to spend a fortnight keeping watch here while troops were mobilized to come to Appleoosa for a later date.

“So, been a while since we been to this ol' town.” Rainbow Dash said in a faux-western accent, Applejack rolling her eyes.

“Yup, plus, I really gotta stretch my legs.” Applejack breathed, ignoring her friend's gag. “That train ride took us a whole day an' night just to get her.” groaned Rainbow Dash as she followed close behind.

After a long bit of talking with Sheriff Silverstar, Applejack and Rainbow Dash had gotten the gist of what had been going on as of late. The ponies of Appleoosa had taken to mining now that their apple orchard was overgrowing its boarder (the ponies still keeping a path for the buffalo to stampede going through the orchard). Looking through the town, they saw it was fairly empty.

“Everypony must be really busy at the mine.” Rainbow Dash said as she and Applejack made their way to the edge of the town. As the sun dipped toward the west, they saw a familiar face on the horizon.

“Hey there, cousin!” called Braeburn, Applejack and Rainbow Dash waving as he came to meet with them. He was covered in black dust and wore a red vest and scarf, clearly having just come from the mine.

“How've you been keeping, Braeburn?” the orange mare asked as he joined them walking back to the town.

“Pretty good. I'm a fire boss down at the mine.” he said proudly, although Rainbow Dash raised an eyebrow at this. “I'm a foreman down there.” he explained, clearly spotting the blue unicorn's expression. “By the way, I thought you were a pegasus when you last-”

“Long story.” she groaned, Applejack stifling a tiny chortle.

=====

The town was bustling with life early in the morning, Rainbow Dash and Applejack both shaking their heads at the early start. Joining Braeburn and his fellow miners at breakfast, they ate in silence (although their eating was fairly noisy).

“The princesses want us to keep watch over Appleoosa until she can send out some guards.” Applejack explained to her cousin as Rainbow Dash continued to eat loudly. “We're gonna hold down the fort in town while everypony's mining, okay?”

“Sure thing, cousin.” he responded, finishing his filling meal. “See you when quitting time's up.” he said, joining his fellow miners. Rainbow Dash sighed and lounged back, giving a loud burp.

“That his the spot, AJ.” she mused. “We're gonna need to keep our strength up for whatever's gonna come at us today.”

“Eeyup!” Applejack called, jumping up to join her friend. Leaving the inn, they started off to the far end of the town where a tall wooden watchtower stood. They had been tasked today to keep watch over Appleoosa from the outpost. Ascending it, they kept a close watch on the horizon, Applejack spotting Braeburn's team entering the mine with a telescope. It was quite a ways from town.

“So, what are we on the lookout for?” Rainbow Dash asked as she looked all around with a pair of binoculars.

“Hopefully, nothing.” Applejack responded. “To be honest, I want all this over an' done with.” Rainbow Dash couldn't exactly object to that. There had been so much craziness, she also wanted things to be back to normal... she especially wanted her wings back.

The hot sun moved painstakingly slow from one edge of the sky to the other. It had been an incredibly boring day for the two. Groaning, completely drained, Rainbow Dash slumped against the guardrail as Applejack forced herself to keep watch. Was this really what she and Rainbow Dash were going to be doing for the next two weeks?

“You think we'll be home in time for Twilight's birthday?” Rainbow Dash sighed, wishing the day would be over. Applejack shook her head, trying to keep herself awake.

“I hope so.” she groaned, spotting Braeburn's team returning, another marching out toward the mine. “I think our shift is up.”

“Good, this guard duty stuff is boring!” her friend breathed, descending the ladder. Following, Applejack and Rainbow Dash nodded to their replacements as they hurried to join Braeburn.

“Have fun today, cousin?” he taunted, both the mares glaring at him. “Don't feel bad, guard duty happens to the best of us.” Sighing, the two followed him into the inn. The smell of tasty dinner filled the air.

“Well, I guess such a sucky job makes the food taste better.” Rainbow Dash said as she felt her mouth water. Applejack couldn't help but agree.

=====

The next day, they decided to go explore the land, Rainbow Dash taking her binoculars just in case. Taking to the trail leading through town, coming to a stop at the apple orchard, they surveyed the land. The orchard did look much fuller than ever. Smirking, Rainbow Dash powered her horn and picked an apple.

“Catch!” she called, tossing it to her friend. Smiling, Applejack caught it and looked it over.

“Looks good... you have it.” she said with a smirk, tossing it back to Rainbow Dash. Smirking, taking a bite out of it, she followed Applejack as they came to where the trail led off into the dessert. Looking out at the open frontier, they could see the whole desert, open and wide. They both thought it was very beautiful.

“We gotta get everypony out here when all this is over an' done with.” Rainbow Dash sighed, looking over the land. “This just seems so awesome!”

“Yeah, it is.” Applejack said, chewing on a strand of wheat, the wind giving a whip to her hat. She was happy they could be out there, at least. It was really quite relaxing.

Just then, however, they saw a cloud of dust on the horizon. While Applejack squinted at the approaching cloud, Rainbow Dash powered her horn, peering through her levitating binoculars, the ground beginning to shake as a rumbling sound began to grow.

“The buffalo are heading this way.” Rainbow Dash said, both of the mares stepping back as the herd came up on them quick, passing them by and shooting through the orchard, heading straight toward Appleoosa.

“Looks like they're still lively.” Rainbow Dash called over the loud rumble of their stampede, both of them watching as they disappeared around the orange, rocky bend.

“Hello there!”

Applejack and Rainbow Dash both turned to see a familiar face. Little Strongheart, the daughter of Chief Thunderhooves, smiled at them from a rock face overlooking the orchard.

“Hi there, Strongheart!” Applejack called as the young buffalo calf leaped down to join them. She now wore a light, brown garb and necklace of some kind. “How have things been?{“ she asked, Rainbow Dash smiling at their old acquaintance.

“Okay... it's nice to see you both.” she said, her face falling just a bit. “So, you're here because of the things that have been going on around here? Like the dragons?”

“Even out here, huh?” Rainbow Dash asked, Strongheart nodding.

“They've been less numerous, but my father has also disappeared.” she explained. “Without our chief, many of my friends are worried.” The two mares were at a loss for words. Chief Thunderhooves was a very large buffalo (large even by his tribe's standard) and if he were to just suddenly disappear, something serious must be afoot, they both thought.

====

It was a good bit before sunset and the miners were returning to town early, Applejack, Rainbow Dash and Strongheart watching in bewilderment. They were initially going to see the sheriff about the disappearance of the buffalo chief, but as the miners came back early, they figured something might be up. Their suspicions were confirmed when, to their shock, they saw two gruff stallions helping an injured Braeburn back to the village, Applejack gasping as she saw her cousin. Rushing for him, they saw he was covered in bloody bandages, his eye covered as well. He looked in really bad shape!

“Braeburn!” Applejack breathed as she rushed to his side. “What happened!?”

“Sorry cousin,” he said weakly as he hobbled with help into the square “I got caught in a gas explosion... part of bein' fire boss.”

The trio watched as the crowd helped him to the town center for treatment. It seemed he would be out of work for a time.

“You think he'll be okay?” Rainbow Dash asked quietly. Applejack made no sound.

“I hope Braeburn is well... let's go meet with him.” Strongheart said, starting off for the town center.

“No.” Applejack said, both her cohorts turning to her. “He needs some rest... let's see him tomorrow.” she finished, starting off to the local tavern. Rainbow Dash sighed as she watched her friend enter to building.

“I hope she doesn't get too thrashed tonight.” she moaned, starting off to the inn, Strongheart tagging along.

“It's still day light-”

“You know what I mean.” Rainbow Dash said sharply as she and the young buffalo walked off back toward the apple orchard, the sun dipping toward the west.

=====

Rainbow Dash and Applejack both were feeling incredibly drained, having been landed with sentry duty once again. It had been just over a week since they came to Appleoosa, and their stay had been incredibly uneventful, spending all their time keeping an eye out for anything that might seem threatening. This was the third time since they had come to Appleoosa that they had found themselves in the tower watching the horizon. It was just so boring.

“How has Braeburn been?” Rainbow Dash asked, wanting to speed the time.

“How many times have you asked me that?” Applejack groaned, spying through a telescope. “He's just fine, he just can't go back to the mines just yet.” she sighed, not really paying attention to anything in the spyglass. Sighing, she flopped back onto an empty create for sentry ponies to sit on. Braeburn was going to be out of work for a bit longer ever since his accident in the mine. Paired with chief Thunderhooves' disappearance, things in Appleoosa were slowly but noticeably getting more and more out of hand. After all this, she really hoped to be back in Ponyville by Twilight's birthday. That would be just the fix she (and all the rest of them) needed. It was starting to feel really lonely out in Appleoosa now that there was mining going on. The city almost seemed deserted during the day. Groaning, she wondered what Apple Bloom and her friends were up to.

“Hey, Applejack, look out there!”

Before she could think of her sister any longer, Applejack jumped to the telescope and spotted a shape on the horizon. It was clearly another pony, draped in a dark, heavy traveling cloak, doubled over as they came up on the outskirts of the dusty town. Gasping as the pony collapsed, she seized up her canteen ans hurried down the ladder (Rainbow Dash calling for her) and shot through the town. She had to help whoever this pony was. Coming up to the edge of town, she could see the pony slip into focus over the mirage of the heat. Running as fast as she could, she came up to the pony, seeing it was a stallion. Lifting his head up, she gasped as she saw who it was. None other than Flash Sentry, a pegasus soldier whom Twilight had shown interest in the last time they met.

“Water... please...” he wheezed, his lips chapped and his mane tangled. Immediately, Applejack seized her flash and poured water into his mouth as he sputtered and coughed.

“C'mon, fella.” she sighed, helping him toward the town as Rainbow Dash hurried up for them.

“Is that Flash Sentry?” she gasped as she came to him, helping her friend carry him toward the town center. “What's he doing all the way out here?” she asked as the door opened, her horn glowing.

“Your guess is as good as mine.” Applejack breathed as they hoisted him onto a table. “I'll go find a medic.” she said as she hurried off, Rainbow Dash tending to the groaning stallion.

“What were you doing out there, Flash?” she asked, holding her canteen for him to drink. “What happened?”

“Mer... mer...” he wheezed “mercenary...” Rainbow Dash's eyes went wide when she heard this. There were mercenaries in the desert? Before she could think on this anymore, she heard the door open behind her. Turning, expecting to see Applejack or a nurse, she instead saw a bulky pegasus dressed in a dark blue cloak, a matching uniform underneath. He had a short gray mane, a pale blue coat and a look in his eye that said all too well he had seen much. Rainbow Dash knew him well. It was Stable, a pegasus mercenary leader, known for both his expensive services and how brutal his team could be.

“Been a while, huh, RD?” he asked smugly. The unicorn glared at him, standing between him and the ailing Flash. “When did you get a horn? Where are your wings?”

“I'm not surprised to see you here, Stable.” she huffed. “Lemme guess... Tirek hired you?”

“He wants us to make sure he keeps everything under wraps... we just raided ol' Flash in the desert an' left him to die.” the mercenary chuckled darkly. “He didn't come too easy, but we managed to steal everything he had... too bad he got here before he died... looks like we're gonna have to clean house out here in Appleoosa.”

“You're insane!” she spat, her horn pulsing. “Do you really think any good can come from working for Tirek?”

“Don't know, don't care.” Stable sneered. “He pays good, so we'll do whatever-”

“You never changed, Stable!” Rainbow Dash growled, lowering her head. “Everypony in Cloudsdale knew you were bad news... now you're gonna wipe out a whole town for a paycheck?”

“You got it.” Stable smirked, a crossbow folding out from his saddle under his cloak. “Nothing personal.” As he fired several bolts, Rainbow Dash narrowly put up a barrier dividing Stable from her and Flash.

“You're dealing with a different Rainbow Dash, Stable.” she growled, glaring at him.

“Yeah, I know about you coming back an' showing up Cloudsdale an' all, but what do I care?” he snorted, “Just gonna make this more fun.” he laughed as a loud roar sounded outside. Rainbow Dash knew it was an airship. Stable's team was here.

“So, what's your next move, Rain- OOF!” was all the brute could say before Rainbow Dash sent him flying with a painful burst of magic. Turning back to Flash, she powered a barrier around them, knowing it wouldn't be much. Barriers weren't her strong suit and without her Element of Harmony, she wouldn't be able to hold it for long if they attacked her all at once.

Outside, several mercenaries (all dressed in dark blue tunics and cloaks) set to raiding the city. Just as Stable rose to head back inside, he was tackled by Applejack, her Element glinting as it hung around her neck.

“Who are you?” she demanded as she pinned him down, his crossbow lying broken on the ground beside him.

“Get offa me!” he snapped, the orange mare holding him in place, despite how much bigger than her he was. “What gives!? Who are you!?” he spat. Just as she was about to demand he tell her what was going on again, another mercenary tackled her from the side, knocking her off of him, her hat flying off as she fell to the ground. The two wrestled in place but Applejack was able to easily overpower him. Stable couldn't believe his eyes? One mare overpowered one of his own troops?

“Get her!” he snapped, several stallions charging for Applejack and leaping on top of her. As more and more mercenaries piled up, Stable snickered, certain they crushed the life from her. Just then, to his shock, he saw Applejack start to fling and thrash her attackers about. What was going on!? Shaking her head, her yellow mane a mess, she glared Stable down, kicking her fallen hat up and placing it back on her head as she smirked at him.

“Got anymore?” she rasped, breathing loudly. Just then, several pegasi troops surrounded her, each of them armed with crossbows.

“Skewer her.” Stable laughed as the prepared to fire, Applejack looking nervously around. Just as it seemed this was it for her, a barrel sailed by, exploding in the air as everypony ducked and covered their heads.

“Need some help, cousin?” a bandaged Braeburn smirked, standing beside a catapult loaded with explosive kegs.

“Glad you're here, Braeburn.” Applejack breathed, not even wondering what he was doing out of bed. “Now let's run them outta town!” she called, Braeburn sending another exploding keg for the attackers, sending them running as it exploded loudly. Stable, however, shed his cloak and spread his wings, soaring into the air, curving back around and scooping up Applejack, shooting out of town at high speed, her hat flying away as they shot through the sky. As she watched the shrinking town, she saw miners and buffalo returning back into town, ready to fight off these mercenaries. Good thing she and Rainbow Dash went to the sheriff to keep in touch with the buffalo in case anything like this happened, she thought breifly as the deafening wind blew at her and her enemy.

“You're going down, now!” Stable called as he dived down to a butte, dragging Applejack painfully through its rocky side. Swinging with all her might, Applejack cracked him hard in the face with her hoof, the two of them spiraling up into the sky, shooting back down quickly into a mountain range far outside of town, a bigger airship than the one she saw in two anchored in the peaks, several creates surrounding it. Kicking free, Applejack tumbled to a stop near the airship, the Element of Honesty flying from her neck when she made contact with the ground, her attacker swerving quickly back for her.

“You can't mess with me!” he spat, his eyes glaring. “I'll take you down now!” he called as he shot for Applejack. Just as she readied for impact, Strongheart jumped up and tackled him just feet from her.

“Where's my father!” she demanded, turning to kick him hard in the side, but he was quick. He caught her just in time and shoved her away.

“My boss wants the chief to make into a real nasty monster.” he sneered. “Funny you came all the way out here.” he said just as a wheezing sound could be heard. Looking closer, they saw one of the creates was actually a wooden cage, the giant buffalo bound to the ground inside. Strongheart let out a loud gasp as she charged for her father, Stable quickly turning to buck her painfully away.

“Kids.” he smirked as she tumbled toward her father. Applejack had had quite enough. Snatching up her Element, she placed it back around her neck, staring Stable down.

“Time for you to die.” he sneered, flexing his wing as a second crossbow folded from his saddle. Applejack narrowed her eyes. Strongheart shook herself awake and stared at the two ponies, her mouth dry and her heart racing. This was it for all of them.

As Stable flexed his wing again, a bolt shot at blinding speed for the orange mare. At the same speed, Applejack spun about, bucking with all her might, deflecting the crossbow bolt, turning back to star her foe down. Both Stable and Strongheart couldn't believe their eyes. How was Applejack able to do such a feat?

“If you missed that, I can do it again.” Applejack taunted. Glaring, Stable fired several bolts, Applejack turning around and kicking them all away with her strong hind legs. The two stared in disbelief as Applejack rounded back to the wicked pegasus and smirked. Before he could make another move, the airship they struck in Appleoosa came zooming away, several pegasi flying off with it. The attack was over.

“Looks like you lost.” Applejack said smugly. Stable knew she was right. Roaring, he shot through the air and to his giant ship. What was he doing, Applejack though. He couldn't possibly hope to fly an entire rig by himself. Just then, however, it she saw it. Taking a closer look at the airship, she saw it had two enormous cannons mounted on its sides, and, to her and Strongheart's horror, they turned downward. He was going to blow the ship away.

“Have fun!” Stable called as he shot away from the airship. Sweating bullets, Applejack leaped for Thunderhooves' cage and kicked with all her might, shattering it as if it were made of twigs.

“Father, hurry!” Strongheart called as she and Applejack hoisted him up and helped the weak buffalo chief away from the ship, the scent of gunpowder filling the air. Even with Applejack's strength, it was slow going. Thunderhooves was an extremely heavy fellow. Just when it seemed all hope was lost, Strongheart roared out, her light brown coat turning snow white, her strength matching Applejack's. Now, the two of them both quite capable, they hoisted up the unconscious chief and hurried down the mountain, a loud explosion sounding just seconds later, the trio blown tumbling a ways down the mountain. Turning, covered in dust, they saw a gigantic rock slide coming for them. This was serious.

“You go on ahead!” Applejack called to Strongheart. “I've got this!” The white buffalo nodded and hobbled down the mountain with her father, leaving Applejack behind. Taking a deep breath as she saw the tumbling boulders fall for them, she turned and kicked with all her might, knocking them all away, tiring out as she held off the torrent of crushing boulders. Not daring to look away from the falling rocks and not even wondering how she was able to even do this, she kicked and kicked as hard as she could, her vision waning. Finally, giving one giant rock a kick that sent it shooting back up the mountain, she stumbled away, collapsing out cold. She had saved Strongheart and Thunderhooves.

=====

“Wake up, would ya! C'mon! Applejack!”

The orange pony slowly opened her eyes to see Rainbow Dash standing over her, a look of relief on her face.

“You're alright!” she breathed, throwing her hooves around her friend. Applejack strained at the achy feeling that shot through her body, looked around to see she was in their room at the inn.

“What... what happened?” she wheezed, looking to see her cousin Braeburn (still covered in bandages), the white buffalo Strongheart and an equally bandaged Chief Thunderhooves beaming at her. “Is the town okay?”

“The town is just fine, cuz.” Braeburn said calmly. “We fought them off easy an' sent a message to Canterlot warning them about Stable an' his team.”

“Glad to see you're up.” came another voice. Turning, Applejack saw a rather worn looking Flash Sentry hobble toward her. “How'd you do all that?” he asked, Applejack giving him a bewildered look.

“Strongheart said you torn Stable a new one and even bucked away a whole rock slide.” Braeburn said excitedly. “How'd you pull that off?” Applejack wasn't sure she could answer.

“Well, the princess said the Elements of Harmony could be used as really strong weapons.” Rainbow Dash said, remembering her trip with Twilight to Manehatten and her fight with Tirek. “That's probably how you were able to do all that.” Applejack smiled, twitching as she achingly lay back down in her bed. Still, something tugged at her mind as she lounged in the feathery bed.

"Hey Strongheart," she began, turning back to the young buffalo, noticing she was now wearing a small but noticable headdress. "What's up with you? Why did you turn white all of a sudden?"

Stringheart blushed at this inquiry.

"She has been revealed as the sacred white buffalo." Thunderhooves said, stepping forward slowly. "One day, she will lead our proud tribe as our cheiftess. Long live cheiftess Strongheart!" he called, bowing to his daughter as her face flushed red. Applejack couldn't help but blush, too. The both of them had really saved Appleoosa.

=====

It was the last night of their stay at Appleoosa. Flash had left a few days earlier, as soon as his wounds healed (against everypony's wishes), but he was at least a little wiser for the ware, Applejack hoped.

Soldiers from Canterlot had finally been dispatched to the dusty town and they decided to have a great celebration. A large feast was prepared for both the newly arrived soldiers and the brave ponies who defended the town. They even cracked open their finest casks of the strongest cider, drinking, singing, dancing and feasting into the night.

“We head out tomor- HIC- tomorrow mornin', Braeburn.” Applejack said, helping herself to yet another mug of cider. After her last fiasco, she really felt the need to let her hair down (both literally and figuratively).

“Get yourself a new hat, while you're at it, cuz.” he smirked, eating more piping hot food. “You jus' don't look the same without it.”

“Don' worry, Braeburn.” she waved off, draining her mug. “I awready got one back home ready awready.” she sighed, laying down on the table. Rainbow Dash couldn't help but chortle at her friend. "Lucky by the time the train arrives in Canterlot... it'll be jus' in time for Twilight's birthday." Rainbow Dash nodded at this, a smile spreading across her face.

“Y'know, this was kinda nice.” the blue unicorn said, watching the celebrating town, taking a drink from her mug of fermented cider. “Just spending time away from everything with my best friend... it sure was nice.”

“Yeah... I feel something similar.” Applejack said, giving her head a shake as she smiled at Rainbow Dash. They really did have the time of their lives out here in Appleoosa.

Comments

[ShaD-23]

Many thanks, friend. I will admit, I do make a glut of spelling errors, but all the same, I am happy you are enjoying my story.